


Start All Over Again

by princecaviar



Category: Don't Starve (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Kinda, M/M, Time Travel, Trauma, Wilderness Survival, the maxwil will get a lot more spotlight later i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28142028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princecaviar/pseuds/princecaviar
Summary: Wilson has died hundreds of times. Thousands, even. And it's awful, but he can put up with it. Because now he isn't alone.He wasn't, at least.Something has gone terribly, terribly wrong this time around.
Relationships: Maxwell/Wilson (Implied)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. Stumble

God damn it. God damn it _all_ ! No no no no no no _no_! This was a simple trip! That was all! Just a quick run to go grab more flint for tools! That was all this was supposed to be! But now Wilson was sprinting through the forest, legs burning as he tried to outrun the hounds.

_Shit!_

A root catches him and Wilson falls over. He desperately scrambles to get to his feet- but it’s too late. The hounds descend on him, and he screams as he dies.

_“Say pal, you don't look so good. You better find something to eat before night comes!”_

No.

**_No._ **

No no no no **_no_ **-!

Wilson sits up just in time to catch a glimpse of Maxwell’s smug smile as he vanishes.

He’s hallucinating, isn’t he? He has to be. He’s going insane again, and he’s hallucinating. There’s- there’s no way that this is happening.

Oh god.

This is happening.

Wilson frantically heaves himself up, spinning around in a circle to quickly survey the area, even as his thoughts race at a thousand miles an hour. How could this _happen_ ? How was this _possible_ ? The Constant, awful and terrible and confusing as it was, had _rules_ . This? This was _very much outside of the rules_.

He pales a little at the thought of what They must be thinking.

...Oh **_god_ **.

_Them_.

_He’s going to have to do everything over again._

_He’s going to have to go back on the Throne to save Max._

Wilson feels like he’s going to vomit.

As it is, he still has to sit down before he collapses.

He’s going to have to go _back_.

It isn’t a choice, he knows. He won’t kid himself. He can’t just- _leave_ Max there. Not with what he knows about the throne. About Them.

_Despite_ what he knows, really.

He doesn’t think he could live with himself if he left Maxwell there.

He’s shaky as he stands up, but he’s standing nonetheless. He needs to plan, but he can gather resources as he does that.

Last time, he had pretty much stumbled onto the door out of sheer luck. This time, though, if he wants to do this as quickly as possible, he’ll need to make a divining rod _soon_. Most of his time here is going to be spent wandering and searching, so there’s no real need to make a firepit or a proper base. He’ll just need to find a clear spot to set up all of the machines he’ll need.

Okay.

He can do this.


	2. Speculation

The next few days passed rather quietly. He’d kept an eye out, as he wandered, but nothing about this new world seemed particularly strange. Charlie was still guarding the darkness- a fact he’d discovered quite involuntarily when his torch had unexpectedly run out. Everything seemed perfectly normal.

So what had  _ happened _ ?

His first thought, of course, was that this was some sort of sick new torture by Them. It would make sense, after all. What better way to torture them than by ripping all of their victories straight from their hands?

But… it didn’t seem like Maxwell was upset in any way. He looked just as he always had, during his stint as king. And Wilson  _ knew _ Maxwell, now. He wouldn’t fall so easily back into old routines.

So Maxwell couldn’t remember. Had They erased his memories, perhaps? He wasn’t sure if They could do that, but then- if They  _ had _ done this, They were clearly more powerful than any of them had thought. But what about  _ Charlie _ ? Surely the Queen would have been reluctant to give up her throne. And They would have disliked giving up their favorite ruler. So why not keep Charlie on the throne and send the rest of them to new, separate worlds?

...The only option, it seems, was that They  _ hadn’t _ done this.

And if it wasn’t  _ Them _ … then there was something  _ much _ more powerful out there.

Wilson shuddered and determinedly continued to pick berries. He didn’t want to think about that. In any way.

* * *

It took about 6 days for Wilson to be able to put together a science machine, which really didn’t bode well for how long this would take. Gold was scarce here, it seemed, which was going to make getting the alchemy machine up a pain in the  _ ass _ . He’d set up right next to the stoney place, to make sure it was easy enough to get.

Which was, of course, why he was currently running around with a torch and being chased by a tall bird.

He was sprinting as fast as he could, but- well, he hated admitting it, but he was a tad on the short side. And tall birds were- as their name suggested-  _ tall _ . So it wasn’t even a matter of them being faster than him, really. They simply had longer legs and a  _ very _ deep determination to kill him. 

So it was dark, his clothes were torn, he was bleeding, the tall bird behind him was getting closer, and Maxwell was surely laughing at him.

Just like old times.

  
He  _ hated _ old times.


End file.
